Burson And VML Win Top Honour In Crisis Communications And Issues Management At Cannes

By

-

July 3, 2026

Burson And VML Win Top Honour In Crisis Communications And Issues Management At Cannes

Burson and VML won the PR Lions Grand Prix in Crisis Communications and Issues Management, as well as four additional Gold Lions and three Silver Lions, at the 2026 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. The winning campaign, The KitKat Heist, delivered a real-time crisis response that transformed a supply chain disaster into a global cultural moment.

The KitKat Heist, created by VML and brought to life in partnership with Burson, earned four Gold Lions across PR: Social Engagement, PR: Real-Time Response, Social and Creator: Real-Time Response and Media: Consumer Goods. It also won three Silver Lions in Social and Creator: Innovative Engagement of Community, Media: Use of Social Platforms and Direct: Real-Time Response.

‘Crisis communications has long been the discipline of caution, protecting reputation, minimising damage, staying safe,’ said Dana Tahir, PR Lions Jury President, Cannes Lions 2026, and CEO, HAVAS Red Middle East and Egypt. ‘But this year’s work rewrote those rules entirely. KitKat didn’t just manage a crisis, they transformed it into a cultural moment, proving that creative bravery and crisis counsel can coexist.’

When a 12-tonne theft threatened KitKat’s Easter, the agencies turned a crisis into a brand-building opportunity. Bypassing defensive corporate messaging, they injected KitKat’s playful spirit into initial communications. The news release and statements were crafted to be meme-able and shareable: immediate conversation starters that fuelled global discussion but also shaped it. It gave the media permission to have fun with the story while reporting facts.

‘Crisis communications has always been one of PR’s most demanding disciplines. It’s tested in real time, under pressure and usually with the temptation to prioritise caution over creativity,’ said Taj Reid, Global Chief Creative Officer, Burson. ‘We couldn’t be more honoured to have partnered with our colleagues at VML to help rewrite that playbook, turning a crisis into a break-out moment for a client who knows exactly what creative bravery can deliver. This work proved that when creative, social and PR are truly in lockstep, the result isn’t just a campaign, it’s a cultural moment.’

‘The KitKat Heist has been an incredibly special project that brought together creative ideation, social and PR orchestration all in real time,’ said Ryan McManus, Chief Executive Officer at VML UK. ‘We reacted to a brief that came from the real world and enlisted what seems like the whole of the internet to help track down stolen KitKats and help solve the ongoing investigation. We are so proud of our teams at VML UK and our partners at Burson who helped bring it to life. And of course our longstanding clients KitKat for their creativity and trust in us.’

Watch the case film here.

BURSON
www.bursonglobal.com

VML
www.vml.com

Nedbank IMC Agenda Features Global Keynotes, African CMOs And Creative Leaders

By

Modern Marketing

-

July 3, 2026

Nedbank IMC Agenda Features Global Keynotes, African CMOs And Creative Leaders

The Nedbank IMC 2026 agenda is live. Under the 2026 theme Shift Happens™, the programme brings a clear point of view to a day of marketing, creativity, culture, technology and leadership: the shifts shaping business are happening at once, and marketers need practical ways to respond. Modern Marketing is a proud media partner.

The day will be hosted by Donovan Goliath, with Dale Hefer opening the conference. The event is taking place on Thursday, 17 September 2026 at Mosaïek Teatro, Johannesburg OR Online.

Rather than a simple roll-call of speakers, the agenda is built around the issues currently moving marketing and business. Creative bravery is explored through Conn Bertish, Fran Luckin and Roanna Williams, with sessions on resilience, purpose and why brave work wins.

Youth and culture come through Gugu Mthembu’s panel, which brings a youth lens on Gen Z, Gen Alpha and the next wave of consumers, while voices such as Dr Gcina Mhlophe and Kabelo Mabalane connect story, culture, influence and personal performance.

AI and technology feature strongly, with Ifeoma Jibunoh speaking on AI at African scale, Jarred Cinman on whether 2026 is the year AI changed everything in advertising, and Tahaab Rais on the psychological shift behind technological change. Suhayl Limbada, Chief Marketing Officer, KFC India and Partner Markets, and Marc de Swaan Arons add international perspectives on growth, marketing impact and business transformation.

African growth and brand leadership take centre stage in the Brand Africa CMO Panel, facilitated by Thebe Ikalafeng, with Khensani Nobanda and Opeyemi Lawal joining him for a conversation on African brand leadership, growth and relevance. Dawn Rowlands, Tarryn Knight, Vincent Magwenya, Sheldon Tatchell and Rea Leopeng add further perspectives on Africa, mobility, crisis communication, entrepreneurship, wellbeing and performance under pressure.

‘This agenda has a point of view,’ said Dale Hefer, CEO of the Nedbank IMC. ‘It brings together the people who can help marketers understand what is shifting creatively, culturally, technologically and commercially – and what to do next.’

The in-person experience will include networking and refreshments fuelled by Wild Bean Café, with post-event drinks courtesy of SAB. Online delegates will be able to take part through the Plug’d Challenge, networking opportunities and virtual exhibitions.

The Nedbank IMC 2026 will again feature a curated, not crowdsourced, speaker line-up, blending global insight with African context. Thousands of students will also attend virtually at no cost through the YOUTH1000 programme, in partnership with MASA.

The agenda may change due to elements outside of the organisers’ control. The full agenda is available here.

Nedbank IMC
www.imcconference.com

The 14th Annual WesBank New Generation Awards Announces Esteemed Judging Panel

By

Meggan McCarthy, Modern Marketing

-

July 2, 2026

The 14th Annual WesBank New Generation Awards Announces Esteemed Judging Panel

A premier awards platform requires a premier line-up of minds. The 14th Annual WesBank New Generation Awards are proud to reveal the official judging panel, a powerhouse collective of 31 South African agency leaders, corporate visionaries, and tech innovators, all ready to evaluate and honour the country’s best work. Modern Marketing is a proud media partner of the awards.

From creative brilliance and technical prowess to performance-based marketing and strategic ROI, the judges are looking for the campaigns that set a new standard for the industry.

‘Our sincere thanks to the judging panel for dedicating their expertise, time, and passion to driving the definitive benchmark of digital excellence in South Africa,’ said Stephen Paxton, Founder of the Awards.

The prestigious judging panel includes:

– Astrid Ascar, Chief Growth Officer at VML South Africa – Head Judge.
– Mondrē Bremner, Senior Manager: Digital Channels Strategy | Integrated Marketing and Experience at Nedbank.
– Thato Soato, Senior Specialist: Digital Marketing at Vodacom.
– Tristan Vogt, Head of Innovation at Ogilvy.
– Dashni Vilakazi, Managing Director at The MediaShop.
– Dani Morley, Executive Head, Growth: Shyft and Global Markets Retail at Standard Bank.
– Xolisa Koyana, Creative Director at Penquin.
– Barry Louzada, Founder and Managing Director at Mettlestate.
– Nicolas van Zyl-Smith, Founder and CEO at Naritive.
– Jacques Bezuidenhout, Equity Manager: Chocolate South and East Africa at Mondelēz International.
– Celia Collins, Commercial Officer and Digital Transformation at Omnicom Media.
– Yvette Gengan, Managing Director at Lucid Performance.
– Darren Morris, CEO at Lucky Hustle Agency.
– Courtney Chapple, Director of AI and New Business at Forge by Brave/Brave Group.
– Katie (Lu) Alomia, Fractional CMO.
– Lee Smith, Digital and AI Marketing Executive at RCL FOODS.
– Jeremy Crowder, Managing Partner at Dialogue.
– Zanele Zwane, Managing Director at HaveYouHeard Marketing Agency.
– Justine Nienaber, CEO at PUNKYSTARFISH.
– Jamie-Leigh Barnett, Director of Growth and Development at Algorithm.
– Merissa Himraj, Independent Media and Marketing Strategist.
– Kyle Oosthuizen, CEO at Blue Robot Group.
– Kathryn McKay, Executive Creative Partner at Black&White (The Up&Up Group South Africa).
– Tara Turkington, CEO at Flow Communications.
– Darren Leishman, Co-Founder and CEO at Spitfire Inbound.
– Ciarán McKivergan, Chief Creative Strategist | Visionary Founder | Cultural and Tech Trend Analyst, at 8909 Digital.
– Roxana Ravjee, CEO of dentsu South Africa.
– Lauren Dixon-Paver, Senior Social Art Director at BOUNDLESS.
– Duduzile Ngomane, Creative Director at CREACHA.
– Jenna Chisnall, Co-Founder and Director at Fenix Marketing.
– Rob Garden, Creative and Communications Director at Mscsports.

This is the final week to lock in the standard entry fee rate. Submit your work before the window closes on 3 July, midnight.

Need a little extra time to perfect your entries? No problem. The late entry fee phase runs from 6 July to 17 July, midnight (a 10% surcharge applies).

Meet the 31 faces behind the scores, and enter the awards here.

WESBANK NEW GENERATION AWARDS
https://www.newgenawards.co.za/

Why Mid-Sized Companies Are Turning To Fractional Marketing Leadership

By

Modern Marketing

-

July 2, 2026

Why Mid-Sized Companies Are Turning To Fractional Marketing Leadership — Bernard Jansen, Firejuice.

Bernard Jansen, Fractional CMO at Firejuice, traditional approaches to scaling businesses are undergoing a fundamental transformation as forward-thinking companies increasingly shift to flexible, fractional leadership models. This global workforce trend is most pronounced in the marketing sector, where international data reveals that open listings for fractional roles heavily outpace the available talent pool.

The Shift In Management Reality

Traditionally, when business owners think of marketing, they picture creative advertising, social media posts, or vibrant campaigns. Because these are the only visible outputs, it is easy to treat the entire discipline as a purely tactical exercise.

Focusing entirely on the creative outputs, however, means many companies overlook the internal leadership needed to orchestrate everything effectively. Without strategic direction, even the most enthusiastic marketing efforts fragment, leading businesses to write off the function as a fruitless expense.

This exact breakdown in marketing operations is driving a major realisation among privately owned companies. Entrepreneurs are starting to see that when marketing fails, it is rarely a creative failure. Instead, they are realising that the function also requires professional, executive-level management to succeed.

Three Pillars Of High-Performance Marketing Management

To turn marketing into a reliable engine for growth, businesses must look beyond creative execution and focus on structural discipline. That means mastering three core management functions:

Organising and elevating external suppliers: Marketing partners, whether they are specialised agencies, independent contractors, or freelancers, need strict project management to thrive. Strong management involves selecting providers based on specific strengths, enforcing clear timelines, and offering rigorous feedback to keep outputs aligned with business objectives.

Tracking real results over fiction: Modern marketing depends on a practical, clear-eyed look at what truly works. Effective leadership means implementing simple software tools and dashboards to closely monitor performance, allowing the business to tweak campaigns based on hard facts rather than gut feel or guesswork.

Streamlining rigorous, repeatable processes: True marketing management relies on methodically integrated operational habits. This includes replacing verbal instructions with thorough, written creative briefs, maintaining strict cost-tracking systems, and delivering transparent performance reviews to the executive team.

Bridging The Leadership Gap Fractionally

Establishing the necessary structural controls to drive effective marketing presents a dilemma for medium-sized enterprises. Building a high-performance marketing engine requires seasoned, executive-level experience. Yet most privately owned companies lack the budget or the ongoing workload to justify hiring a full-time, veteran Chief Marketing Officer, so they need a different model.

To fill the leadership void, business structures are moving towards fractional leadership. A Fractional CMO steps into the business as a part-time executive, taking true ownership of the marketing function with explicit accountability. In this model, strategic leadership and executive guidance enter the company without the massive financial commitment or long-term baggage of a traditional executive hire.

Ultimately, tangible marketing results depend as much on expert management as on brilliant execution. Building an effective marketing function requires the right leadership to steer strategy, processes, software, and suppliers in the same direction, effectively closing the gap between strategy and execution. The fractional CMO model now offers even the smallest business the opportunity to manage its marketing as it should be.

FIREJUICE
https://firejuice.co.za/

How To Build More Effective Social Media Strategies

By

Modern Marketing

-

July 2, 2026

How To Build More Effective Social Media Strategies — Dan Brocklebank, Second Rodeo.

When social media campaigns underperform, the algorithm or creative often gets the blame. But according to Dan Brocklebank, Strategy Director: Content and Editorial at Second Rodeo, the real issue often lies elsewhere.

The real challenge usually rears its head after the reporting cycle. Performance data gets shared, the next month’s content is planned and somewhere along the way, the connection between what the data is telling us and the decisions that follow breaks.

It is an easy gap to miss because everything looks like it is working. Most social media campaigns already have reporting in place. The hard part is making sure those conversations actually change what happens next. When they do not, creative takes the fall in trying to fix something it cannot.

Social media moves quickly, and agencies are built to keep pace. There is not always time to stop and ask a simple question: are last month’s results actually shaping what happens next?

So over the past 10 months, we decided to try something different. Working with a client in the South African financial services sector, we introduced what we call an Editorial Board. Once a month, we looked at the performance data before a single new content brief was written. Those conversations shaped what we did next. When the following month’s results came in, we could see whether those decisions had made a difference.

It was not long before the impact started showing up in the data. Reach increased significantly, follower growth often beat its annual target ahead of schedule and share of voice moved from outside the top ten to inside the top three. Net sentiment also reached its highest recorded level during the campaign.

Looking back now, what stands out is not any single metric. It is how much changed once every month’s performance became the starting point for the next month’s planning. Run a campaign like this for long enough and you start to see patterns that strategy-level thinking tends to miss.

Consistency Beats Campaign Chasing

Early on, the engagement numbers were pretty basic. By the second half of the campaign, they had settled into a much stronger rhythm, with the final three months all performing above the fourteen-month average.

It was not one standout campaign that made the difference. It was turning up month after month with content people genuinely wanted to spend time with. Over time, that consistency seemed to build a habit. People kept coming back, and the algorithm noticed too.

Every Platform Plays By Different Rules

Every platform measures success differently because people use them differently. Looking at one big set of numbers can hide what is really happening. Looking at each platform on its own gives you a much clearer picture of what is working, what is not and where your attention needs to go next.

It is probably not the most exciting part of social media strategy, but it is where a lot of better decisions begin. The simple things still matter most

The content that consistently performed well was not especially complicated. It had a clear purpose, worked for the platform it appeared on and made the next step obvious.

When people were not sure what they were being asked to do, they usually did nothing. A post might generate plenty of impressions or views, but those numbers do not mean much if they are not leading to the behaviour you want.

By the end of the campaign, we realised that understanding what we wanted people to do before moving straight into creating new content changed the quality of the work we were doing.

One thing we did not expect was how quickly the conversation about brand and performance started to change. They are often treated as two different conversations, even though they are both trying to understand the same audience. We found they became much easier to balance when we looked at them through the same lens.

The brand still shaped the content, while the performance data helped us decide what to do next. We spent less time debating opinions and more time looking at what the audience was telling us. That shift also changed the way we thought about planning. Every month started with what we had learned from the last one, instead of beginning with a blank page.

If there is one question I would encourage marketing teams to ask, it is this: What happens between your reporting meeting and your next content brief?

You do not need a new platform or another reporting dashboard. Start by making sure last month’s performance genuinely influences next month’s work. Build that into the way your team plans, so reviewing performance becomes part of the creative process instead of something that happens after the work is done.

For us, that shift was the turning point. It did not replace the campaign’s creativity, it just gave it a fighting chance.

SECOND RODEO
https://www.secondrodeo.co.za

AI-Generated Code Often Lacks Security Controls And Architectural Discipline

By

Modern Marketing

-

July 1, 2026

AI-Generated Code Often Lacks Security Controls And Architectural Discipline — Adolf Lategan, CTO, Rogerwilco

The rise of vibe coding has all the hallmarks of a technology gold rush. Adolf Lategan, CTO, Rogerwilco, says businesses should favour good architecture over good vibes, and discusses what the latest Drupal Advisory teaches us about building for the long-term.

With AI tools now capable of generating websites and applications from a simple prompt, businesses are being sold a seductive vision of faster delivery, lower costs and less reliance on specialist developers. Beneath that hype, though, a real security problem is forming.

Recent research from Escape.tech examined more than 5,600 publicly deployed AI-generated applications and found over 2,000 high-impact vulnerabilities, alongside hundreds of exposed secrets. Building software has never been easier. Building software that is secure, scalable and maintainable over time remains as hard as ever.

AI-generated code is increasingly common in websites and applications that clients ask us to maintain or improve. It usually works, doing what it was designed to do, but it often lacks the security controls, architectural discipline and long-term maintainability a business-critical system needs.

This is not a criticism of AI. These tools are genuinely useful for prototyping and accelerating development. The problem starts when a working proof of concept gets mistaken for a production-ready solution. When we run security scans across inherited code, vibe-coded sites tend to light up like a Christmas tree, with issues flagged across the codebase. Often, it is faster and safer to start again than to fix what is there.

Why The Platform Underneath Still Matters

For most businesses, a website is far more than a marketing asset. It stores customer data, integrates with internal systems, supports revenue generation and often serves as the primary point of contact with customers and stakeholders. These deserve the same governance, security and ongoing maintenance as any other critical business infrastructure.

This is where mature platforms like Drupal continue to prove their value. While it powers a relatively small share of the web overall, Drupal remains the open-source content management system of choice for many government departments, universities and financial institutions, all organisations with the least room for error.

On 20 May 2026, the Drupal security team issued advance notice of a highly critical update to its core architecture. As is standard practice, organisations were given a release window rather than technical detail, so attackers could not get ahead of the patch.

That window fell at 7pm South African time. We had 21 enterprise client sites to secure. As each patch landed between 7pm and 11pm, our team reviewed, implemented, peer-reviewed and tested it within 45 minutes. Our environments turned out to be largely unaffected by the underlying vulnerability, but that was never the point. Every site was secured before attackers had a realistic opportunity to exploit the vulnerability.

That response was not luck. It was the product of established systems, proven processes and a team that treats security as a discipline, not an afterthought. Security is not about reacting once something goes wrong. It is about being ready before it does.

AI Is A Tool, Not A Strategy

None of this is an argument against AI in development but we feel its most valuable uses sit outside code generation. Documentation, testing, troubleshooting and knowledge-sharing consume a significant share of any project’s lifecycle, and that is exactly where AI is proving its worth.

AI-assisted documentation has lifted the quality and consistency of our project records. AI is often better at spotting bad code or security issues than at writing clean code itself. Visual testing, traditionally one of the slowest parts of quality assurance, now moves much faster, freeing developers to focus where it matters most.

Used this way, AI sharpens the judgement of an experienced team. Used as a substitute for expertise, architecture and governance, it creates new risk rather than removing it.

Choosing The Right Foundation

Out-of-the-box website builders have their place; they get something online fast, and for the right use case, that is genuinely valuable. But Drupal is a different kind of decision, an investment in not having this same conversation again in two years. Think of it as the difference between building a property you can extend as you grow and renting a pop-up tent you will inevitably outgrow.

The recent advisory should not cause alarm. It is a reminder to ask: who is responsible for monitoring your platform? How quickly could you respond if this happened tomorrow? Do you actually have visibility into your own digital risk?

Too many organisations have traded long-term digital thinking for template-driven shortcuts. Security is the most visible symptom. Originality, resilience and sustainable growth all require investment in doing things properly rather than simply copying what everyone else is doing.

AI can accelerate development. But speed should never be mistaken for safety. For businesses that take security seriously, good architecture will always matter more than good vibes.

ROGERWILCO
https://www.rogerwilco.co.za/

The Supply Of First-Party Data Keeps Growing While Ad Budgets Lag Behind

By

Modern Marketing

-

July 1, 2026

The Supply Of First-Party Data Keeps Growing While Ad Budgets Lag Behind

According to Caitlin Perry, Head of Marketing at Flow, retail media has become the fastest-growing corner of South African advertising. PwC’s latest Entertainment and Media Outlook expects digital to account for 74% of all local ad spend by 2029, with internet advertising reaching R51.7 billion and retail display and paid search among the fastest-growing formats of all.

Retail media itself is growing faster still, at double-digit rates and among the quickest-expanding markets of its kind in the region.

A few years ago, almost none of this existed. Today businesses from Woolworths to ARC to Bash are turning their first-party data into media, and they are not alone. We have largely stopped calling it retail media, because retail was only the opening act. Marketplaces, booking platforms and financial services are doing the same thing, anywhere a business holds first-party data and the demand to meet it. This is commerce media, and the supply of it has grown faster than almost anyone predicted.

And yet advertiser budgets are not shifting at the pace that growth suggests. The reason is not a lack of appetite. It is that the market has built the supply far faster than it has built an easy way to buy it.

This is the part nobody likes to talk about, because it is unglamorous. For an advertiser, tapping all that supply still means assembling it. A separate conversation and plan with every partner. The same manual stitching, by hand, every time a brief lands. For years the hard part of commerce media in South Africa has not been demand but rather getting access to the first-party data audiences at all, and then piecing them together yourself, one partner at a time.

And the audiences are worth the effort. Built on real purchase and behavioural data, they consistently outperform broad targeting, with brands reaching up to 60 times more high-intent shoppers on first-party data than on conventional audiences. The value is not in doubt. Getting hold of it has been the pain point up until now.

That fragmentation shows up everywhere downstream, including in measurement, where each network counts differently and, as Dentsu’s commerce lead Daniel Malan recently wrote, ‘what appears to be strong performance on one platform often cannot be meaningfully compared to another’. But measurement is the symptom. The root is that buying commerce media is still a partner-by-partner grind, and a difficult process is a hard thing to scale.

As advertisers commit budgets for the year ahead and weigh every rand more carefully, an older, manual way of buying does not inspire confidence, and budget flows to the channels a planner can put together quickly and stand behind. So, the supply of first-party data keeps growing while the ad budgets lag behind, not because the value is doubted, but because reaching it is still too much effort. Fragmented buying makes for a fragmented business case.

The good news is that South Africa is building the fix now, while the market is still taking shape, rather than bolting it on years later the way more mature markets had to. A new layer of tech partners now lets advertisers discover, book and report on first-party audiences from many partners in one place, on a single plan, instead of negotiating each one separately.

In practice it is simple: a beauty brand like L’Oréal could pick Woolworths’ beauty shoppers, book that audience in a few clicks, and run ads to them on platforms like Meta, Google and TikTok, with no separate deal struck for every retailer. Bring the audiences, the partner packages and the planning together, and the hardest part of commerce media stops being how you buy it.

The prediction is straightforward. With the right technology in play, the industry should soon be buying across the market in one place by default, eliminating the fragmentation that frustrates buyers today. The standalone, partner-by-partner deal becomes the exception rather than the rule, and the question stops being how to assemble commerce media and starts being what to do with it.

That, in the end, is the real test for the next phase of South African commerce media. The inventory is no longer the constraint. The constraint is whether a brand can reach across the whole market, build one plan and commit with confidence. The retailers, agencies, industry bodies and platforms that make buying genuinely easy are the ones who will decide how much of that forecast growth actually becomes spend. Demand sits on one side, first-party data on the other, and the prize goes to whoever puts the least friction in between.

FLOW PLATFORM
https://flowplatform.com

Toyota Hilux Launches New Campaign

By

Modern Marketing

-

July 1, 2026

Toughness is inherent to all South Africans and South Africans know what is needed when there is tough to be done. Inspired by everyday South Africans, Publicis Groupe Africa’s Studio One team wanted to showcase the heart and soul of the lived experience in South Africa.

To do this, three film pieces were conceptualised to intentionally portray different cultures and experiences, while also echoing the common experiences, and toughness and grit that South Africans show every day.

Award-winning film director Amr Singh, who is known for his striking visuals and impactful storytelling, directed the three Hilux pieces produced in Afrikaans, English and isiZulu. A full cast, stirring words, and Singh’s vision perfectly encapsulates the grit and resilience that South Africans pride themselves on. From early mornings to long hours at work. From touching family moments, to helping others in need. In every instance, the new-generation Hilux is there.

Peet Engelbrecht, Executive Creative Director at Studio One, said, ‘We wanted to create an ad that celebrates our country and people. The New-Generation Hilux campaign is first and foremost a celebration of South Africans’ toughness, before it shows the Hilux’s role in helping them when there’s tough to be done.’

Rethabile Bopape, Advertising Senior Manager at Toyota South Africa Motors, said, ‘The new-generation Hilux remains rooted in its legacy as a workhorse that is tough enough to tackle anything South Africans can throw at it. Through this campaign, we wanted to celebrate the different ways in which South Africans from all walks of life use the Hilux, while also positioning it as an intuitive and lifestyle-oriented drive.’

PUBLICIS GROUPE AFRICA
https://publicisgroupeafrica.com/

IMA Expands Capabilities In Shopper Marketing With Majority Acquisition Of VF!

By

Modern Marketing

-

July 1, 2026

IMA Expands Capabilities In Shopper Marketing With Majority Acquisition Of VF! — Mike Smollan, Smollan Group, and Scott Adcock, VF!

As part of the acquisition, VF! will join IMA as part of the Activation and Experience vertical within The Smollan Group, enhancing the agency’s end-to-end retail marketing function and broadening its ability to deliver impactful shopper experiences across global markets. The integration of VF!’s expertise will broaden IMA’s offer across creative and strategic retail marketing, delivering solutions that drive measurable commercial impact.

The acquisition marks a key strategic investment for The Smollan Group, within its Activations and Experience vertical. VF!’s specialist teams analyse shopper behaviour and market trends to develop strategic, data-led campaign briefs designed to unlock growth opportunities for clients. These insights then inform the creative and design process, resulting in branded displays, products, retail systems, and immersive shopper experiences.

VF! Founder and CEO Scott Adcock will continue to lead the business as part of IMA, ensuring continuity for clients and employees while supporting the agency’s next phase of growth. The VF! team will join the IMA team in the new offices in Cape Town.

Scott Adcock, Founder and CEO of VF!, said, ‘Joining IMA marks an exciting new chapter for VF! Over the past 20 years, we have built a business centred on understanding shoppers and creating meaningful retail experiences that deliver commercial value. Becoming part of IMA gives us the opportunity to scale our expertise, collaborate across a broader global network, and continue delivering exceptional value to our clients.’

Mike Smollan, Chief Brand Experience Officer at Smollan Group, added, ‘VF! brings an outstanding track record in shopper marketing, deep strategic expertise, and an exceptional client portfolio. This acquisition furthers IMA’s ability globally to create world-class experiences in physical and digital retail for the consumer, enhancing its ability to create connected brand experiences from awareness through to purchase.’

IMA
https://ima.global/en-GB

Workplace Inclusivity Is Easier To Achieve Than Employers Realise

By

Modern Marketing

-

June 30, 2026

Workplace Inclusivity Is Easier To Achieve Than Employers Realise — Terrie Molepo, VML South Africa.

Terrie Molepo, Senior Social Media Manager at VML South Africa and former co-chair of WPP Unite SA, says having a workplace that is inclusive for members of the LGBTQIA+ community goes beyond policy. But it is also easier to achieve than employers might realise.

Recently, our agency had a session open to all staff where WPP Unite South Africa (WPP’s LGBTQIA+ community) had the opportunity to speak about its endeavours and have a conversation with our CEO about these issues. It is something I do not take lightly. I know there are many other parts of the world, and certainly Africa, where employees cannot have such conversations with other colleagues, let alone their CEO.

In 2026 it has become imperative for the workplace to be inclusive. And to have workplaces be inclusive beyond policies has becomes even more important. We have seen an increase in regressive thinking and anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric. However, members of the LGBTQIA+ community are members of the workforce and, therefore, solidarity and support of these colleagues is important in fostering a workplace environment that promotes belonging and wellbeing.

So, what does an inclusive workplace actually mean in 2026? The modern inclusive workplace must walk its talk. It starts with policy, but that must be backed up with an intentional demonstration of inclusivity at all levels of the company, and a culture where employees are empowered to co-create an inclusive environment.

Inclusive policies: Inclusive HR policies are a good start to support employees and attract talent. This begins even before an employee joins the company. The wording and messaging of job posts and descriptions of the workplace culture are what determine if a member of the LGBTQIA+ community wants to join the company or not.

Pride Month activities: Pride Month activities make a difference. Even though companies may receive backlash for only showing up for the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month, this should not deter them from continuing to do so. Doing something is better than doing nothing at all. However, what agencies and companies should consider is having at least one Pride-themed occasion at least once a quarter.

Including employees: Ensuring employees have a voice and a say in what these activities look like is important. This empowers employees to feel that they have a say in making the work environment more inclusive. Being allocated time to be part of an Employee Resource Group (ERG) and organise events and discussions, both in person and online, fosters an environment for psychological safety.

EXCO support: EXCO supporting Pride initiatives and participating in them sends a message to the LGBTQIA+ employees that they are seen, heard and appreciated just as they are and they should continue to show up as their true selves at work. I know that having our CEO take an hour out of his day to not only attend our recent session but also actively participate in it meant a lot to our people.

Mental Health support: Members of the LGBTQIA+ community have been documented to experience high levels of mental health issues, often triggered by family situations and the environments they live in. Making employees aware of resources to support them during difficult times is a remarkable way employers can show up. Many companies have these services; it’s as simple as sending a reminder to employees about their availability.

Online discussions: Sometimes planning an in-person session can seem daunting; booking a boardroom, organising refreshments, keeping track of the RSVP list. As WPP Unite, we have discovered that setting up an online session for people to join from wherever they are has proved more effective. It is simpler to organise, we can have them more frequently, and more people are able to attend.

Starting or supporting an ERG: Encouraging employees to start an ERG takes pressure off the employer and People teams to run with initiatives. Employees can plan and organise what they want to do, knowing the employer supports their efforts.

Being truly inclusive for all: It is also very important not to exclude heterosexual employees from such initiatives. When our heterosexual colleagues are included and invited, they are eager to attend and walk away having learnt new things about what life is like for their LGBTQIA+ colleagues.

Workplace inclusivity may sound big and daunting and even expensive, but, in reality, it does not have to be complicated and does not have to be rocket science. It could take the form of simple initiatives that make employees feel seen and valued.

Ultimately, the workplace is where everyone should bring their whole selves to work without the fear of judgement or intimidation. A healthy workplace is where everyone feels they are contributing meaningfully to their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others.

VML SOUTH AFRICA
https://www.vml.com/south-africa